Pneumatic door closers often may not be adjusted properly to cause a door to close and latch completely. Often the door may close lightly with the latch resting on a strike plate or the jamb.
There are pneumatic door closers that are intended to provide improved door closing. One such pneumatic door closer is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,051,534 entitled “Pneumatic Door Closer” and issuing to Valentine Luca on Nov. 8, 2011. Therein disclosed is a pneumatic door closer that provides a controlled rate of closing motion that is generally uniform, smooth, and safe in moving from an open to closed position. While these and other pneumatic door closers have improved the closing of a door, often the door does not completely close and latch. This may be due to inappropriate adjustment of the pneumatic mechanism or temperature changes that affect the pneumatic mechanism.
Therefore, there is a need for a mechanism to assure that the door is latched when closed. There is an additional need for a mechanism that is compact such that it could be fitted inside and made part of a conventional door latch.